Curved screens are everywhere in the current generation of smartphones. Samsung’s been doing it for a while with its Edge Display technology, proving that phones didn’t have to use completely flat screens.
However it’s now Oppo’s turn to show the future of the traditional candy-bar form factor display. Posting on its official Twitter account, the Chinese company showed off its new ‘waterfall screen’, which you can see below.
Taking borderless smartphone innovation to new heights, we're thrilled to give you a first look at 'Waterfall Screen' technology. 🤯What do you think the screen-to-body ratio is on this prototype? 😏 pic.twitter.com/99AQKh9ZgHJuly 29, 2019
Twitter leaker Ice Universe made their own contribution with some live video of the screen in action, and really showing off how the phone almost has right-angled edges that still display content.
OPPO "Waterfall Screen" mobile phone demo（1） pic.twitter.com/s3qEXCp6QSJuly 29, 2019
Finally, a user on Chinese social networking site Weibo also posted a video of the phone, showing a video playing while turning the device around to show us the effect on the sides of the phone.
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This unnamed prototype phone is also notable for its tall aspect ratio. Most phones are designed around a standard 16:9 widescreen ratio display, but this looks taller, perhaps sharing an ‘ultra-widescreen’ 21:9 ratio with Sony’s Xperia 1.
You can also see that there’s no notch or punch-hole in the screen for a selfie camera. Oppo has previously shown off an in-display camera which hides itself under a slightly modified patch of screen, so perhaps it's hinting that this and the waterfall screen will come together in future.
Oppo's Find X (left) held next to the Waterfall Screen prototype (right).
Since this is a prototype, don’t expect this exact model to ever appear on shelves, or the technology it’s showcasing for some time. There’s no reason to doubt it will happen eventually though. The Oppo Reno features a 10x hybrid lossless zoom camera, which if taking into account the earlier 5x version Oppo demonstrated in 2017, went from concept to production fairly quickly.
Going by that rate, perhaps we’ll see a purchasable waterfall screen phone from Oppo by 2021.